


Clementine

by Wolfloner



Series: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces [37]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Dom Loki (Marvel), Kink Negotiation, M/M, Non-Sexual Bondage, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Non-Sexual Submission, Safeword Use, Shibari, Sub Tony Stark, actual god loki, scene continues after discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29911956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfloner/pseuds/Wolfloner
Summary: “Right, right. But, can we try something else?”Loki hesitated. He wanted to say,Yes, of course, anything.But he also didn’t like the idea of setting them up for disappointment. “What do you have in mind?”“Do you want to tie me up?”
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1051433
Comments: 20
Kudos: 89





	Clementine

**Author's Note:**

> *pterodactyl screeching*
> 
> Hi everyone! Missed y'all! Happy to be back.  
> Even happier to be back with two of my favorite idiots. ^u^
> 
> Giant thanks to Buying_the_space_farm for the A+++ beta.

_Wish I could see what it's like to be the blood in my veins  
Do the insides of all of my fingers still look the same?  
And can you feel it too, when I am touchin' you?  
And when my hair stands on ends, it's saluting you _  
—Halsey, _Clementine_

* * *

“This is nice,” Loki murmured softly. He smiled at Tony’s answering hum. His human was focusing in that way that meant most other things faded into the background of his mind. And Loki always cherished the opportunity to be what Tony focused on.

Loki closed his eyes, glad he’d finally agreed to let Tony braid his hair. He was sitting in the middle of their bed, with Tony kneeling behind him. His fingers wove locks of Loki’s hair together as though it was a skill he’d practiced for years. Loki let himself relax, lulled by the intimacy of such a simple act.

And then Tony’s thoughts broke the gentle silence. “Why’d it take so long for you to let me do this for you?”

Loki tensed despite himself.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry—”

“Yes, you do.”

“Okay, yes, but…” Tony’s words paused, but his fingers didn’t stop working. “I’m sorry for lying. I really don’t mean to do that.”

“It’s fine.” Loki understood. Oftentimes lies were a necessary part of Tony’s life. He couldn’t fault him for the things that let him navigate his world.

“I mean, it’s not—”

“No one has ever done this for me before,” Loki explained before Tony could start to offer more unnecessary apologies.

That made Tony’s fingers pause. “So you did it yourself?” He listened as Tony licked his lips, trying to sort through his confusion. “Not to say you’re not capable, but I’ve seen some of the styles you guys pull off, and I’m having a hard time picturing it without using spells.”

“No one has done it for me in _this_ form,” he corrected, working to keep his voice even.

After another long moment, “Never?”

Loki offered a one-shouldered shrug.

“... Not even Frigga?”

He didn’t quite hold back his flinch at the mention of his… well, mother wasn’t really the right term for her, was it? “No one means no one, Tony.”

“Right, sorry,” Tony murmured. “I just… I’m having trouble with that. If it’s as important as you’ve made it seem, then…” he trailed off.

What could Loki say to that? Tony was correct. It _was_ important. Even if he hadn’t recognized the slight for what it was until many years later. (That realization had been surprisingly painful.)

Tony brushed his hair to the side and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Loki’s neck. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For telling me. Trusting me. For letting me worship you,” he whispered against his skin.

Loki shivered, his fingers twitching as sparks of magic danced around them. He closed his eyes again when Tony returned to weaving together his hair. He had to concentrate, but he _could_ feel it. The faintest buzz reached the edge of his mind, and its very essence was that of his mate.

He swallowed as he processed what was happening. Tony was worshipping him. They both knew it. And he could still feel it. Could still benefit from it.

They remained quiet after that. This time because Loki was too overcome to figure out what he wanted to say. And, truth be told, because he was afraid that speaking would break whatever connection they’d managed to create.

“Okay!” Tony chirped after tying off the last of his work. “I know I need more practice, but I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out.”

Loki reached up, gently trailing his fingertips along the braids. He would look in a moment. Right then, he cared more about the chance to show Tony his appreciation. He turned and kissed him, tasting his delighted laughter.

“What if it looks terrible?”

“It doesn’t,” Loki assured him. He didn’t need to see his hair to know. _“Thank you_ for this, Tony.”

Tony returned his smile. “So,” he started as he pushed the hand mirror into Loki’s hands. “Does that mean you could feel it? What I was doing, I mean. Er, not the braiding part, the wor—the other thing.”

Loki smiled at his reflection. Half of his hair was pulled back into two braids that kept the other half out of his face. They met at the back of his head and merged into one long fishtail braid. It was simple, but he could see how much attention and effort Tony had poured into his work.

“I could,” Loki said, setting down the mirror.

“You could,” he echoed with a sigh of relief. “Even though I told you?”

He nodded. “You telling me is the only reason I noticed, I think.”

His human lit up at that. “What did it feel like?”

“Faint, but,” he paused and tried to put words to the feelings Tony had gifted him. “Warm?” He offered. “I’m not sure how to describe it. It felt like _you.”_

Tony’s eyes widened in excitement. “Then, does that mean—”

“I don’t know what it means,” Loki gentled.

“Right, right. But, can we try something else?”

Loki hesitated. He wanted to say, _Yes, of course, anything._ But he also didn’t like the idea of setting them up for disappointment. “What do you have in mind?”

“Do you want to tie me up?”

The words had been said in a rush, as though Tony had had to force them out, and all Loki could do at first was raise his eyebrows. “You don’t like being tied up,” he pointed out, as though Tony might have forgotten.

“No, I know, but we talked about it before. You know, starting small. Like, stupid small.”

Loki took hold of Tony’s wrist and ran his fingers up and down his forearm, picturing what it might look like. How he could loop and knot the ropes. Positioning each strand just so as it pressed against Tony’s skin, impossible to ignore.

“Perhaps,” he started, haltingly. “Maybe if I don’t restrict your movement?” He caught and held Tony’s gaze. “Not much, at least.”

Tony swallowed. “So… Like decoration?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“Okay,” Tony agreed, relaxing under Loki’s hands. “Sounds good. Let’s try that.”

* * *

Tony was watching him as he finished laying out the lengths of rope at the edge of their bed. Red, gold, and silver cords lay patiently, each one carefully measured and cut.

“That’s a lot of rope,” Tony said, reaching for one of the short silver pieces and running it through his hands.

It took Loki a moment to decide how to frame his response. “We won’t necessarily use all of it.” If at any point Tony needed to stop, they would stop. Any unused rope didn’t matter.

Tony gave him a look—he’d certainly caught Loki’s careful phrasing—but didn’t press the matter. “Okay,” he agreed. “So… should I get undressed?”

“That’s up to you and your comfort.” Loki settled on the bed, pressing his side against Tony’s.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m confident in my abilities regardless of how much you’re wearing. I want you to be comfortable, first and foremost.”

His human fidgeted with the rope, wrapping and unwrapping it around his hand as he thought. “This is really soft,” he mumbled, and Loki wasn’t sure if it was intended for him or if he was just thinking aloud.

Without speaking again, Tony dropped the rope back with the others and jumped to his feet. He kicked off his pants and pulled his t-shirt over his head, leaving himself in his boxers and a tank top. “Okay?”

“Are you comfortable?” Tony nodded. “Then okay.”

As soon as Tony stepped close enough, Loki drew him closer and pulled him into a soft kiss. “I need to ask you one last thing.”

“Yeah?”

He watched and cataloged Tony’s expressions as he spoke. “If you _do_ wind up needing to use your safeword. Would you prefer for me to undo it manually—either by untying you or cutting you free—or with a spell?”

Tony smiled, despite the way his heart rate sped up at the question. “If I’m freaking out enough to cut me free, just use a spell, I guess. I trust your judgment.”

Loki kissed him again before patting the bed next to him. “Ready?”

“Yep! Yeah, yes. Okay.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

“Shut up,” Tony huffed as he crawled back onto the bed. “Where, uh. Where do you want to start?”

“One of your arms. Your choice of which one.”

Tony huffed something about Loki giving him too many choices before extending his left arm, the one closest to Loki.

“Thank you.”

Loki did his best to telegraph his movements as he picked up the first rope—red—and carefully wrapped it around his wrist twice. “Okay?”

“You’ve barely done anything,” Tony pointed out, frowning.

“That’s not an answer.”

 _“Jesus Christ,”_ Tony grumbled under his breath. “Yeah, I’m okay. Green.”

Knowing that his nerves were coloring his tone didn’t entirely squash the annoyance Loki felt.

 _“Thank you,”_ he said before returning to work. He picked up a short golden rope to start making the image in his mind a reality. With each knot and careful placement, he wondered how long it would take before Tony recognized what he was doing.

It had been a long time since he’d worked with ropes and knots like this, but it didn’t take long for his hands to remember the patterns and flow of movement he needed. He kept the ropes tight to Tony’s skin while making sure he wasn’t impeding his circulation.

He’d wound the ropes up to Tony’s left shoulder when Tony let out a small sound of surprise. “Are you… Is this Iron Man?”

“Of course,” Loki gave him a pleased smile. “I want you to feel safe.”

Tony let out a garbled _noise_ that had Loki’s eyes snapping up to his. “I’m okay,” Tony cleared his throat, embarrassment warming his skin. “That’s just—You… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tony settled into himself as Loki repeated the pattern up his right arm. His pulse had stopped racing, and his breathing evened out. For once, his mate didn’t seem like a mess of live wires and nervous energy forced into a human vessel. He’d never seen his mate this still before.

“There you go,” Loki praised softly. “You’re doing wonderfully.”

When he started wrapping the ropes over and around Tony’s chest and back, his human tensed for one never-ending second before relaxing all at once. Something in the air shifted, and Loki’s breath caught.

Tony’s eyes were closed, and his small smile was calm and peaceful. Loki swallowed. This wasn’t just submission. It was surrender. No, that wasn’t quite right. _Sacrifice._ Tony was offering himself wholly, body and soul, to Loki. Trusting Loki with his vulnerability, his fears, his hopes.

Instinct told him to pull away, to reject this. This wasn’t how things worked. _He wasn’t worthy._

Instead, tentatively, he reached out, gently stroking the side of Tony’s face. Tony was worshipping him. Intentionally. He wasn’t trying to hide it or pretend otherwise. He’d made this choice. Who was Loki to turn him away?

At first, Loki had to focus to find the invisible golden threads that connected them. Then, as soon as he’d latched on to the feeling, it was practically all he could sense—dozens of lines connecting the two of them. Shared experiences, goals, jokes. The times they had fought, and the times they had loved. Each instance another thread, binding them together.

“How are you feeling?” Loki asked, as much to keep himself from being overwhelmed as to check his lover’s state.

“Not bad,” Tony’s eyes blinked open. “Sometimes, it’s a bit nerve-wracking, but overall… It’s almost nice. Kind of like, I dunno… being held or something?”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He guided Tony to shift so that he could continue weaving the ropes down his leg.

He hadn’t intended to brush against Tony’s clothed cock, but it was unavoidable. He wasn’t surprised to find it soft and uninterested. Loki wouldn’t have spared it a second thought if it wasn’t for the way Tony flinched away from the touch, anxiety poisoning his previous calm scent.

Loki jerked back at the reaction, and Tony blurted out, “Yellow,” before Loki had a chance to apologize.

“Love?” Loki asked cautiously. He kept one hand on Tony’s leg but shifted the rest of his body to create _some_ distance between them.

“So—” He took a breath. “Thank you,” Tony corrected himself.

“Do we need to stop?”

Tony shook his head. “No, uh. Or, I don’t think so. It’s just…” He shifted under the ropes, and Loki found that whatever was going on in Tony’s head, it wasn’t breaking the threads between them. 

“I know you’re turned on by this,” Tony stated evenly.

Loki blinked. Was he? He hadn’t noticed his body reacting and was startled to realize that, yes, the beginnings of arousal were stirring.

“And that’s fine. Hell, I’m glad, if anything.” Tony’s hands opened and closed as he talked, every twitch and jerk shifting the ropes. “But I… I don’t want this to turn into sex. N-not yet, anyway. Like, maybe someday we could do that, but right now it’s just too much, and I _can’t.”_

“Alright,” Loki agreed immediately. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Oh.” Tony shivered, and he ran his thumb over the rope around his other wrist. “Guess I didn’t need to stop you, then.”

“Of course you did,” Loki leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You wanted to clarify our expectations.”

“I… Yeah. We can fuck later? If you want?”

Loki chuckled at the hopeful note in Tony’s voice. “Perhaps, if you’d like. Later. Right now, can I finish what I started?”

“... Please.” 

It took a few minutes, but Tony eventually settled back into the calm state he’d managed before. Loki finished anchoring and tying off the ropes around one ankle. When he moved to start on the other leg, he carefully avoided touching Tony’s cock again.

Loki’s mindfulness also reminded him that he _was_ aroused. It was easy enough to ignore, though. A low simmer in his core. Harder to ignore was his curiosity as to the cause. Usually, he would write it off as a product of their intimacy and touch. But it felt different than that.

Was it from the connections they’d forged as Tony worshipped him? He spared a thought back to the night of the bonfire. The two instances felt similar, although this was significantly less intense.

Did worship arouse all gods? If so, every one he’d ever met had done an excellent job hiding it from him. Or, perhaps, was it because _Tony_ was the one worshipping him?

“Loki? You still with me?” Tony’s voice broke him free from his thoughts.

“Shit. I’m so sorry, Hýrr.”

Tony just grinned at him. “Because I’ve never zoned out in the middle of something before?”

Loki scoffed and looked back at Tony’s leg. The ropes were looser than he would have liked. Otherwise, it didn’t look like he’d fucked anything up while lost in thought. Tightening the knots was simple enough, and it didn’t take much longer to finish once he was focused again.

“What do you think?”

Tony twisted in place—as much as the ropes would allow—as he tried to see as much of Loki’s work as he could without standing up. “It looks good.” Then he smirked. “Well, wait, what am I saying? Of course, it looks good. You were basing it off something I designed, after all.”

“You’re impossible,” Loki laughed and shook his head. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty much the same as earlier,” Tony said, scratching at the back of his neck. “It’s a lot, but not really in a bad way?”

“Oh? In what kind of way, then?”

“I don’t know,” Tony leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows. He stretched out his legs, testing to see how much his movement was impeded. “In a… Like, I can feel it, all over? I can’t _ignore_ any of the ropes. I guess it’s hovering right under _too much.”_ He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I think I kind of like it, actually.”

“Really?” Loki had to work to keep himself from sounding _too_ excited.

“Part of it is that I’m kind of fascinated by how you did this.” Tony’s eyes met his. “You know you have to teach me some of these knots, right?”

“I’d be happy to.”

Tony’s anxiety and nervous energy spiked in the next moment, and he started picking at one of the ropes.

“All you had to do was ask,” Loki admonished gently as he caught Tony’s hand and started working to undo his ties.

“I figured you’d want to leave it longer,” Tony explained but didn’t hide his relief as Loki freed him.

“I would have enjoyed the chance to admire our work,” Loki noted, “but not in exchange for keeping you in a distressed state.”

Tony snorted. “Bullshit. You love when I’m _distressed.”_

“In certain circumstances,” he allowed. “But I think we’ve pushed this boundary hard enough for one day, don’t you?”

A flurry of emotions passed over Tony’s face and his scent became a confusing mix of chemicals.

“Tony?”

“Sorry. Yeah, you’re right. My brain just had to be stupid for a second.”

Loki tilted his head in question as he undid the anchor knots keeping Tony’s chest and back bound.

“Just stupid machismo bullshit,” he shrugged.

“Ah,” Loki hummed. “You’re not weak for feeling overwhelmed.”

“I wasn’t—” Tony didn’t have to finish the thought before Loki could taste the acrid lie. “I know,” he tried again. “You know, mostly. Or, most of the time. Whatever.”

“And I’m here to remind you for the rest.” He leaned down and kissed Tony’s knee after freeing one leg.

The _connected_ feeling had started to fade as they talked, but it surged back for a bright moment.

When it faded again, Tony was grinning at him. “You felt that.”

“I did.” He wondered what expression he’d made for Tony to sound so certain.

“So, this worked, then?” Tony barely let Loki finish pulling the last ropes free before he scrambled closer. “When did it start?”

“When I was tying up your chest. After you calmed down.”

“Awesome! That’s about when I remembered _why_ you were tying me up. Is that why you zoned out so hard? Did it make it harder to concentrate?”

Loki couldn’t help but return Tony’s excited enthusiasm. “Not exactly. It was a little bit distracting, but I ‘zoned out’ trying to figure out _why_ I was horny.”

Tony let out a huff of mock offense. “What do you mean, why? I’d have been concerned if you _weren’t_ horny with me at your mercy.” His words were light, but Loki knew how to see the uncertainty trying to hide in his smile.

“Do the jokes help?” Loki asked. Tony’s previous excitement twisted into anxiety.

“It’s not a joke! I’m a legit snack.”

_“Stark.”_

“Don’t ‘Stark’ me,” Tony crossed his arms, shrinking back into himself. “You love _The Good Place,”_ he added petulantly.

“This is hardly the time. What’s bothering you?”

Tony hemmed and hawed for a moment before sighing. “What do you mean, _why_?”

Loki blinked. He hadn’t expected Tony to feel _insecure,_ of all things. At least, not regarding Loki _wanting_ him.

“My dear Atrëlv,” he soothed. He reached out to cup Tony’s face. “I was too focused on what it felt like to have you _worshipping_ me. I didn’t notice I was aroused until you said something about it.”

Tony made a face at him. “So, what? Were you just turned on by the… by what I was doing?”

“That’s the exact question I was trying to figure out for myself.”

“Oh. And?”

“I’m surprised you want me to try drawing conclusions from only two experiences,” he teased. But at Tony’s annoyed look, he continued. “I’m not sure if it was being worshipped in general or if it was because it was you. Although, from my limited observations, I’m inclined to assume it’s the latter.”

“Yeah?” Tony perked up.

“Well, it’s either that or Thor’s ability to disguise erections is admirable.”

“Ugh, why would you put that image in my head?” Tony complained, pulling away from Loki’s hold. “I’m never going to be able to look him in the face again.”

“You said it yourself—”

“What? What could I have possibly said to warrant that?”

Loki grinned and leaned closer, forcing himself back into Tony’s personal space until they were all but sharing a single breath. “I love it when you’re distressed.”

He possibly deserved it when Tony whipped around a pillow from behind them to hit him in the face.

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  A pic for reference for how Tony did Loki's hair. If anyone is curious.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Tumblr: [@Wolfloner-Official](https://wolfloner-official.tumblr.com/)  
> [Wolf And Sky's Fever Dreams (Discord server)](https://discord.gg/w5AqUAn)  
> HMU if you wanna chat or w/e. :)
> 
> * * *
> 
> Up next! Honestly, hopefully, one of my Marvel Trumps Hate fics. If not, it'll be the next chapter of FBiNS. I'm hype about both!


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